Emergency vehicles typically have their emergency lights or sirens located on the top of the roof of their vehicles or they must be manually placed on the top of "undercover" vehicles which normally have the appearance of a conventional automobile. There are no known designs which conceal emergency vehicle warning devices under a vertically movable roof panel in the roof structure of a vehicle.
Prior art devices are known for non-emergency lights to be used either in roll bars or for hidden headlights on the front hood of a vehicle. Some of these devices have provided improvements in the aerodynamics of truck lighting in roll bars or headlights for vehicles.
The following patents are typical of the prior art:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,789 to Craig utilizes a concealable headlight assembly in the hood of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,014 to Rich shows an automotive roof spoiler having retractable concealable lamps. Rich's invention is limited to use in a spoiler and is designed for use with trucks and other vehicle without any concept of use with emergency lights and sirens.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,607 to Sherman discloses a retractable emergency beacon wherein a circular opening is made in the roof of the vehicle and the emergency light is positioned within the opening and below the roof and is hydraulically operated for raising it above the roof during use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,411 to Garolfi discloses a fog light which is pivotally mounted on the roof of a vehicle for movement between a closed position, wherein the light is below the roof and is concealed by the light housing, and a raised position wherein the light is exposed. The exposed portion of the housing has the same contour as the roof.
While each of these prior art devices is satisfactory for its intended use, none provide a roof panel which has emergency lights and/or sirens attached to its lower surface so that the roof section and the lights can be raised and lowered together and wherein the apparatus conceals the emergency lights which fold down inside the roof structure for the purposes of increasing aerodynamic efficiency of the vehicle and also concealing the emergency lights and sirens for more covert assignments of the emergency vehicle.